Economic Opportunities Program

Community Development Innovation and Infrastructure Initiative

This project grew out of recognition that economic restructuring, the emergence of telecommunications and information technology, and other national and global trends dramatically changed the environment surrounding community development. As a result, if community development and community development finance are to have impact in this new economic and financial world, they must reexamine their current role and structure.

To that end, this project examined five themes in the context of community development and community development finance:

• Macro trends in the financial services industry;
• Savings and consumer financial services for low- and moderate-income households and communities;
• Affordable housing;
• Telecommunications and information technology; and
• Financial infrastructure, particularly pathways to capital markets for communities and CDFIs.

The research involved a literature review, interviews with experts and industry leaders, site visits and group meeting with practitioners. It is estimated that nearly 300 individuals were interviewed by phone or in person during the course of the project.

This project was incubated in 1998 while Kirsten Moy, current director of the Economic Opportunities Program, was a Distinguished Visitor at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Most of the research was conducted by Ms. Moy and consultant Alan Okagaki, with assistance from several others. 
 
Funders: The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, ARCO Foundation, Citicorp Foundation, Ford Foundation, Surdna Foundation, J.P. Morgan and Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation

Several products were completed as part of this project:

Changing Capital Markets and Their Implications for Community Development Finance
July 2001
This article, posted on the Brookings Institution Web site, summarizes research from the Community Development Innovation and Infrastructure Initiative. It presents a detailed case for why the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) industry must re-engineer, reposition and retool itself to remain an effective conduit for the flow of capital to low-income communities in the 21st Century. Written by Kirsten Moy and Alan Okagaki, a condensed version of this article also appeared in NFG Reports, the newsletter of the Neighborhood Funders Group, in Spring 2002.

Affordable Housing: Systems for Production, Finance and Community Development
July 2000
This 57-frame PowerPoint presentation reviews the history and evolution of local affordable housing production systems and affordable housing finance systems – particularly the roles of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). Included are findings from field research in the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, New Hampshire and eastern Kentucky. In addition to assessing the present state of the industry, the presentation explores possible future directions.

Telecom & Information Technology: The New Infrastructure for Community Economic Development
July 2000
This 33-frame PowerPoint presentation offers a brief overview of the telecommunications and information technology sector and illustrates the connections between it and community economic development through the introduction of eight case studies. The content explores technology as a platform for community economic development, suggests possible directions for community development organizations and summarizes the importance of telecom and information technology to community development.

Telecom & Information Technology: The New Infrastructure for Community Economic Development/Case Studies
July 2000
A companion to the PowerPoint presentation described above, this 58-frame presentation takes an in-depth look at eight projects in communities from Maine to Texas that illustrate the connection between telecom/information technology and community economic development.